How to cultivate lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) from spent mushroom substrate? Detailed new technique

Lion's mane mushroom is named for its resemblance to a monkey's head and its delicious flavor, and has long been known by the saying "monkey's head among mountain delicacies, bird's nest among sea treasures." During mushroom spawn production or transfer, contaminated spawn sometimes appears due to carelessness in sterilization, disinfection, inoculation, culturing and other steps. If contaminated spawn is discarded in the wild, it causes environmental pollution; if the substrate is dug out and the spawn bottles are washed for reuse, it wastes labor and time. But if contaminated spawn is used to cultivate lion's mane mushroom, waste can be turned into treasure with twice the result for half the effort. The specific method is as follows:

1. Collect contaminated spawn and sterilize. Promptly pick out the contaminated spawn; when about 20 bottles (bags) have been collected, sterilize them in a portable pressure cooker, or sterilize them together with the mushroom bags when steaming the bags. The method is: first shake the substrate in the bottles vigorously to loosen its structure, then place the spent spawn bottles in the pressure cooker, leaving gaps between the bottles and not stacking them too tightly, so as to facilitate steam circulation and thorough sterilization. When the pressure gauge pointer reaches 0.05, open the exhaust valve to release the cold air in a concentrated burst. When the pressure drops to zero, close the exhaust valve to raise the pressure for sterilization, and after automatic venting, maintain for 1 hour. During this period, both electric and coal dual-purpose pressure cookers can be used by closing the furnace door and pulling the switch to bean-granule size, then wrapping with newspaper into a ball. The size of the plug depends on the size of the spawn bag: use a large plug for a large bag and a small plug for a small bag; it also depends on the incubation temperature. When the incubation temperature is low, the plug can be smaller; otherwise it should be larger.

The second is the ring-sleeve method. You can buy flared-mouth rings, sleeve them over the spawn bag and then add a cotton plug. If flared-mouth rings cannot be bought, you can also make your own from plastic packing straps to control the fire and electricity, so that the pointer reaches the required level without automatic venting. This saves energy and prevents the sealing paper and cotton plug in the spawn bottle from being blown out during automatic venting, and also ensures that the water in the pressure cooker does not dry up, so the pressure cooker is not burned out. When the sterilization time is reached, stop the fire; after the pressure cooker pointer returns to zero, take out the spawn bottles and place them together with the lion's mane mushroom cultivation spawn in the inoculation box for disinfection.

2. Disinfection, inoculation and culturing. For the inoculation box, use 10-12 ml of 40% formaldehyde solution plus 5-7 g of potassium permanganate per cubic meter of space, mix and react for disinfection for 30-50 minutes. Before inoculation, first disinfect the hands and inoculation hook with alcohol, then burn the inoculation hook in the outer flame of an alcohol lamp until red-hot; after it cools slightly, hook out an appropriate amount of lion's mane mushroom spawn and place it in the spawn bottle whose sealing paper and cotton plug have been removed, then quickly seal it. Place the inoculated spawn bottles upright on a light-shaded indoor rack or platform for incubation. During incubation, ventilate frequently to kill mushroom mosquitoes and mushroom flies. Try to keep the culturing room temperature at the suitable temperature for lion's mane mushroom mycelial growth of 20-25°C; after about 25 days the mycelium fills the bottle. Continue culturing for 5-7 days to let the mycelium grow fully mature, which helps fruiting be uniform and improves (cut into sections, weld into rings with a soldering iron), seal the outside with kraft paper plus a rubber band. Note that the ring must be fitted firmly to prevent it from falling off.

The third is the ventilation hole method. Use a sewing machine needle to pierce a row of holes at 6 cm from the bag mouth, with a hole spacing of about 1 cm. When filling the material, simply sow the spawn at the pierced holes. Do not pierce too many holes, and be careful not to handle the spawn bag while piercing holes, otherwise the mushroom yield may be affected. When a small amount of primordia appears on the surface of the substrate, fruiting management should be carried out in time.

3. Fruiting management. The temperature for lion's mane mushroom fruiting body formation is about 20°C. In midsummer, it is best to place the spawn bottles in mountain caves or dark environments for fruiting. Lay the spawn bottles on their sides in layers and place them steadily, then remove the paper sealing the bottle mouth and keep the humidity at 85%-90%. A spraying method can be used: spray 4-5 times on sunny days, and spray appropriately less when the weather is humid. If the climate is dry, you can spray directly on the fruiting bodies; the finer the mist droplets, the better, as this helps promote fruiting body growth. At the same time, a certain amount of scattered light should be provided and ventilation should be carried out frequently and slowly.

4. Harvesting and processing. When the fruiting body ball has basically grown large and the mushroom spines are about 1 cm long, harvest in time. When harvesting, cut it off from inside the bottle mouth with a small knife. After harvesting, promptly rake the surface of the substrate in the bottle to give the mycelium sufficient air and stimulate the next batch of fruiting bodies to form quickly. As long as the humidity is suitable, fruiting bodies will grow again after 8-10 days, and generally 3-4 harvests can be obtained. After harvesting, if the fruiting bodies are not to be sold fresh, send them promptly to the purchasing department to prevent heating and deterioration, and avoid sunlight and mechanical damage. If processing them yourself, promptly place the fruiting bodies on an air-permeable, well-ventilated bamboo mat to dry in the sun. In rainy weather, roast them with fire; during roasting, keep the mushroom spines intact to avoid reducing quality. When they are fully dried, immediately put them into plastic bags and seal them to prevent moisture and mold deterioration.